How I built a career on YouTube by playing an anime character

This also told test is based on a conversation with the creator behind YouTuber Mint Fantôme, a virtual influencer who appears as an anime character. Like other virtual youtubers, the creator is anonymous online, but their identity is known to Business Insider. The conversation has been modified for duration and clarity.

I play a 19 year old ghost online.

My anime digital style avatar goes through many names: mint, mine or mint ghost. I have 347,000 subscribers on YouTube where I am live from my avatar to chat, sing and play video games.

This is my full -time career, and it has become everything I do. I am part of a growing trend in virtual influencers, called vtubers. Like many others, my identity is anonymous.

I recently joked with a friend that our jobs are like the television show “Severance”. The virtual characters we play online are like our “Innies”, who are the distinct working identities of the characters in the show.

This character that I created allows me to have an online public character without fully sharing my personal self.

I discovered virtual youtubers several years ago. Many of those I followed came from a Japanese company called Cover Corporation, which has one of the best agencies in Vtuber, Hololive.

I found their content really fun to consume. Living in the United States, it is only when Hololive published auditions for English-speaking creators That I realized that it could be really cool for me to try.

I auditioned, but I did not get the role. However, thanks to the hearing process, I met independent vtubers that inspired me. I realized that you don’t have to work with a huge business to do this job.

When I started in 2020, I wanted my avatar to be completely separated from my normal self. I didn’t tell anyone, not even friends or family.

Then, when I started to become more popular, some of my friends came across my videos and recognized my voice.

I said to my mother later. She still doesn’t understand it. But she knows that I have always loved Japanese culture and anime. She cannot believe that what she thought was a phase has evolved in my career.

How I earn money as a virtual influencer

Most of my income come from donations on YouTube. It’s just out of the generosity of people, and that’s how I could maintain it as a career. I also sell goods and promote brands thanks to sponsorships.

Increasingly, vtubers infiltrating Western culture. For example, Hololive vtubers have collaborated with Los Angeles Dodgers. I saw other independent vtubers work with hockey teams and at other events where you may not expect to see an anime girl.

I played a few live concerts and I want to do more. During these shows, I will dance and sing with other vtubers. Online, everyone is just a number and a username in the discussion box. But with live events, I can feel a real connection.

What a medium day looks like

I generally try to broadcast for two to four hours a day on Youtube.

Filming is simpler than people think. I use a phone, and there are programs like Vtube Studio and Vseeface that vtubers use to generate their avatars.

I went to school for the filmography, so I have some experience. But I also look at a lot of YouTube tutorials.

When I started, I am broadcast in my closet. It was a small dressing room with good sound insulation. Now I have my own dedicated streaming room.

When I am not in trouble, I create my own graphics and miniatures. I scroll X, where I will publish and check the hashtags. I also take notes on my phone on live flow ideas or goods.

It is difficult for me to deactivate the switch. Some creators may say that they do not go online or on social networks at times. I have no strict borders like that.

Instead, I disconnect from my work by browsing my personal Instagram and Tiktok accounts, which are centered on my hobbies and my interests, such as Japanese anime and culture.

An alternative path to entertainment

This passion for anime helped me enter the entertainment industry, of which I consider virtual youtubers. As in any aspect of entertainment, so successful is the chance of the draw.

When I am streaming, I will see a number on the screen of the number of people watching. Maybe the number says 3,000, but I cannot fully understand that 3,000 people look at me. I know they are people and I know that their user names represent a person. But even after all these years, I feel so ordinary. I don’t feel like an influencer.

The anonymity that comes with being a vtuber has been really great for me.

I am not a very public person. I am very shy and I have a lot of social anxiety. But discuss for hours a day online really helped me get out of my comfort zone. I am so grateful that I can do this job.